It was the better part of five days before the party left Columbus, five days spent getting the camper in condition to roll with the kids inside. They checked more than one supermarket, to find supplies and parts for a party of seven. They also took the time to do a servicing of the Patrol, changing oil, replacing wipers, fuel filters, washer fluids, and the like. Ben agreed to ride in the camper, to keep the kids company, at least for the first part of the trip. Linz and Marsha agreed to take turns as well. It was a happy group of ponies (and one dog) that took to the Interstate west out of Columbus. Both Alexandria and New York were informed of the finding, and Alexandria told Joe that good homes will be found for the children once they arrived.
Westward they went, making anywhere from fifty to one hundred miles a day across Ohio and Indiana, stopping frequently to clear the road enough to drive through, and taking it slow the rest of the time, only increasing speed when they could see they had a clear road.
West of Indianapolis, the party followed US36 instead of an interstate, because that way they would pass north of Alexandria, turning left at US 150 to head into town. They were told that a crew would be making sure 150 would be cleared of debris all the way up to US36, so once at 150, they would have a clear shot into town.
They decided to camp at a Wal-Mart outside of Danville, because the weather had turned drizzly again, and the kids were getting a bit cranky. Linz suggested making it a cooking stop, so she could do some more baking, and Joe agreed. Pulling in, they set up camp.
Joe, Ben and Danny went in to explore the store, Danny having been taught by Linz how to light up his horn. Telekinesis was proving just a little tougher, he finding it hard to move more than a pencil with any accuracy. They started looking around, and immediately spotted the fact that the store had been raided, and more than once. Hoofprints were on the floor, trailing to the back. Some products were mussed some, piled on the floor, like they were dropped there by a pony trying to get something off a shelf.
“This is a bit spooky,” Danny said, looking around at the mess. “Who’s been here?”
“Can’t say, Danny. Let’s keep looking about, and see what we can find,” Joe told the colt, putting a wing around him for reassurance. Danny leaned up against the red pegasus until his shaking stopped. At least, the foraging has been decent- the kids were not as ribby as before.
A search showed the store has been selectively raided, only certain items missing, like first aid stuff, garden tools and fertilizer, storage bins, some groceries, towels and bedding, and other general-purpose stuff. By the loading dock, they found a door that had been kicked open, and tire tracks on the pavement. The marks looked like that of a tractor, big wide muddy tracks with two smaller tracks between them.
The team gathered some supplies for dinner and baking before going out to report to the others what they found. “I’m going to follow the tire tracks while I have some daylight. Give me a couple of lanterns, and I’ll put them on the roof, so I can find my way back,” Joe stated. “Linz, you’re in charge while I’m out. Start dinner and keep the kids here. I’ll be in touch.” Joe tapped his radio before taking wing.
Setting the lanterns on the roof, he set them to blinking before following the tracks. They led north then east, to an apple orchard, one set up for commercial and tourist use, evidenced by the big sign along the road. The tire marks led to a house on the south edge of the property, and a tractor pulled up in the drive, a large fairly new tractor that showed signs of hard use and tender care.
Curious, Joe landed by the tractor. Looking about, he saw lights on inside the house, flickering firelight, like an old lantern would do. He knocked on the door, hoping someone would answer. Heavy hoofsteps could be heard approaching the door, then a pony’s head appeared at a window near the door, a large reddish-yellow earth pony head. It seemed rather dour at first, then lit up with a smile as he spotted Joe. “Hey, Maw, we got company!” Joe heard before the head pulled back and the door rattled before opening.
Joe was shown inside, meeting the big earth pony, who was easily half again as big as Joe, with a mark of four apples on his flank, who introduced himself as Vernon Lundquist, the farm manager. Joe also met his wife Daisy, who had a picture of a white flower surrounded by a pink nimbus on her light green unicorn flanks. “You’re the first pony we’ve seen since we came back! It’s been months!” Vernon exclaimed.
“How long have you been back? I came back in February,” Joe said, breathing in the aroma of apples baking on a wood-fired stove.
“Sometime last August,” Daisy said, cutting up an apple pie with a knife held in her pink glow.
“Yes, it was. The Galas were ready for harvest when we came back. We were riding the tractor out in the early morning to check on the orchard when this bright flash hit, and it went from early morning to late afternoon,” Vernon confirmed. “We been raiding the Wal-Mart and other places to find what we need to care for the orchard.”
“That’s how we found you. We stopped at the Wal-Mart and found hoofprints and tire tracks. I flew here, following the tire tracks. I’m glad I did!” Joe said.
“You can actually fly with those wings?” Daisy asked.
“Just as much as you can lift a knife with your pink glow, Daisy. I didn’t think they would work at first, but when I needed a fast get-away, they worked, and I have had no reason to doubt them,” Joe told the green unicorn.
“Tell you what, young fellow. I know it’s getting dark out, and you may not want to fly back at night. How about you head back to your group, and Daisy and I will come out to visit you in the morning?” Vernon suggested.
“Let me get a bag of apples for you to bring back!” Daisy added, trotting back to the kitchen and opening a bin, grabbing a cloth bag in her glow.
“I think that would be a very good idea, Mister Vernon. I don’t want them all to worry,” Joe said humbly. He could tell this pony was an older fellow from before, and the gravitas had carried over.
Daisy came back, the bag now bulging with apples, yet not overfilled. “We’ll be sure to bring some more tomorrow, and we’ll spend some time with you all then, okay?”
Joe did a sketchy bow to the couple. “I’m sure we will all look forward to that. Just let me call them to let them know I’m coming back with some good news, then I’ll head out,” he said before keying his mic. “Eight-Nine to Eight-Patrol. I’ll be home in a few minutes, with some good news. Tell you then. Eight-Nine out.”
“Eight-Patrol ten-four,” Linz said over the radio as Joe took the bag handles in his mouth. “Thank you very much. Until tomorrow!” he managed to say around the bag while Vernon opened the door, the aroma of sweet crisp apples filling his nose.
“Have a safe flight, young fellow,” Vern said as Joe exited the house and took off.
Back at the Wal-Mart, Joe picked up the beacons from the roof before landing by the Patrol, the blinking lights getting everyone’s attention. “Where you find the apples?” Marsha asked as Ben gently took the bag from Joe’s mouth.
Joe explained about finding the Lundquists and the apple orchard a short distance away as everyone shared out the fresh fruit, there being enough in the bag for everyone to have two. “They’ll visit in the morning?” Mary asked.
“That’s what they said, and with them being farmer folk, that will probably mean early in the morning,” Joe told the earth pony filly. “That means we should all be up at rooster crow, so we can be ready for them. He then looked at the foals with a semi-glower. “That means ALL of us should take a shower tonight and change out the bedding!”
“Yes, Joe…” the foals said together, none of them meeting his glower.
That evening, all of them worked at getting ready for the company coming in the morning. Joe and Ben scavenged the store for fresh bottled water and a wash tub, Linz found a low charcoal grill and a bag of charcoal, Marsha tossed out the old bedding and got fresh, while the kids split up and helped who they wanted to. By the time everything was done, all were ready for bed.
Joe set his alarm (the one on the phone) for just after sunrise, and he was pretty close. The damned noise went off and he opened his eyes to see the sun coming up over the horizon. After a yawn and stretch, he took his first usual action of the day, putting the coffeepot on the fire after stoking it up, followed by his second action, going out of sight of the Patrol to piss. When he came back from that, Linz, Marsha and Ben were up, getting breakfast ready. Joe knocked on the side of the camper to wake up the kids before going to help with breakfast fixing.
They were about halfway through eating when they heard a big diesel engine approaching. Danny and Sara ran to the corner of the building and cheered when they saw the big tractor coming down the road towards them. When Vernon pulled up, the kids were all prancing with joy over meeting someone new. Joe didn’t even try to stop them.
Vernon and Daisy climbed down out of the tractor cab. They each grabbed a basket from the trailer the tractor was pulling, one a big bushel basket full of apples, the other a smaller one with fresh eggs, milk and butter. As the kids cheered, Linz had to ask, “Where did you get the butter?”
“I made it myself. We have six cows and a bull at the orchard, that we found wandering loose after we woke up. Vern has them in the garage across from the main house, and I milk them every morning,” Daisy told her. “It’s not a proper breakfast without milk and butter and eggs!”
Daisy went to the fire and started preparing some more breakfast while Vern set down his bushel basket. The kids swarmed around the big earth pony, knowing with a child’s instinct that he could be trusted. Vern sat down and started talking to the kids, like a grandfather would upon seeing new grandkids. Joe and Ben joined him, while Linz and Marsha went to watch and help Daisy. Turns out there was more than milk, eggs and butter in the basket, fresh veggies were on the bottom, which made for some spectacular omelets, which were much better than the oatmeal and granola they had earlier.
The ponies and dog spent a nice early morning together, getting to know each other. About ten, Vern said they had chores to do, and asked if anyone wanted to go spend the day at the orchard helping. All agreed, so the kids got into the trailer, Linz and Marsha trotting alongside, Trixie in her usual place on Linz’ back, and Joe flying ahead. The kids happily spent the rest of the day learning about life on a farm, they all having grown up outside of Columbus, while the older ponies had fun learning about farm life as well.
Marsha asked Vern how he managed to have such a nice garden so early in the spring. He told her that he just had a way with plants, and they flourished under his attention. She followed him much of the day, as did Mary, who caught on how to raise plants much sooner than Marsha did. Sara helped Joe pick apples and clear wood from the upper branches of the trees, while Linz, Ben and Danny helped Daisy. Dinner that night was a very pleasant affair, with various apple dishes served up, as well as home made pasta and fresh bread made in a proper oven. Plans were made to camp out one more day there, preparing for the last drive to Alexandria. Vern and Daisy said they planned on staying at the orchard but would welcome any pony from Alexandria who wished to come up and help.
When Daisy offered to have everyone spend the night at the farmhouse, to spend a night in a real bed, the offer was eagerly accepted by all but Joe and Linz, who said they would prefer getting back to the campsite for the night, to make it ready for the next day. Vern agreed to take them down and back, so after dinner, he fired up the tractor and they rode back to the Wal-Mart in the dusky sunset light.
At the store, they did find an ugly sight. During the day, the place had been invaded by wild dogs, tearing up the campsite and getting into the store, where they had gone into a frenzy in the pet department before settling down. Outside, the campfire setup had been disarrayed, cooking gear scattered and the trash pile rooted through. Fortunately, the Patrol and camper had been secured, so the dogs did not get inside. “Looks like we’ll have some cleaning up to do,” Linz sighed.
“Just stay inside the bus at night. They will leave in the morning,” Vern reassured them. “Best gather up a fire before you two go to bed. They’ll avoid that, and when I come back in the morning, I’ll bring my shotguns. A couple of rock salt rounds will get the stragglers to head out.”
“You’ve faced dogs before?” Joe asked.
“Yep. Good thing Maw and I came up with a way for me to fire my shotguns. Left the saddle at home, though. Didn’t think we’d need it.”
Joe and Linz set the camp to rights, shutting the doors before starting, to avoid interruptions. They spent a pleasant evening alone together, sipping coffee before bed, where they slept together and alone for the first time since leaving New York. Okay, Trixie was there, but she didn’t say anything about it.
Mid-morning, Vern and Daisy brought the others back, along with a load of apples and other produce, for them to bring to Alexandria. The kids were all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, thrilled at having been able to sleep in real beds for the first time since becoming ponies. With warm farewells and a lot of hugs, the two groups went on their separate ways, not before Vern repeated his offer of having anyone who wanted to help out at the orchard to come on up. “We miss having neighbors, and more hooves will make our work easier!” he said before leaving.